The following description provides a summary of information relevant to the present invention and is not a concession that any of the information provided or publications referenced herein is prior art to the presently claimed invention.
Assays directed to the detection and quantification of physiologically significant molecules in biological samples and other samples are important tools in scientific research and in the health care field. One class of such assays involves the use of a microarray that includes one or more aptamers immobilized on a solid support. The aptamers are each capable of binding to a target molecule in a highly specific manner and with very high affinity. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,475,096 entitled “Nucleic Acid Ligands;” see also, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 6,242,246, U.S. Pat. No. 6,458,543, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,503,715, each of which is entitled “Nucleic Acid Ligand Diagnostic Biochip.” Once the microarray is contacted with a sample, the aptamers bind to their respective target molecules present in the sample and thereby enable a determination of the absence, presence, amount, and/or concentration of the target molecules in the sample.
A variation of this assay employs aptamers that include photoreactive functional groups that enable the aptamers to covalently bind, or “photocrosslink,” their target molecules. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 6,544,776 entitled “Nucleic Acid Ligand Diagnostic Biochip.” These photoreactive aptamers are also referred to as photoaptamers. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,763,177, U.S. Pat. No. 6,001,577, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,291,184, each of which is entitled “Systematic Evolution of Nucleic Acid Ligands by Exponential Enrichment: Photoselection of Nucleic Acid Ligands and Solution SELEX;” see also, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 6,458,539, entitled “Photoselection of Nucleic Acid Ligands.” After the microarray is contacted with the sample and the photoaptamers have had an opportunity to bind to their target molecules, the photoaptamers are photoactivated, and the solid support is washed to remove any non-specifically bound molecules. Harsh wash conditions may be used, since target molecules that are bound to the photoaptamers are generally not removed, due to the covalent bonds effected by the photoactivated functional group(s) on the photoaptamers. In this manner, the assay enables a determination of the absence, presence, amount, and/or concentration of the target molecules in the test sample.
In both of these assay formats, the aptamers are immobilized on the solid support prior to being contacted with the sample. Under certain circumstances, however, immobilization of the aptamers prior to contact with the sample may not provide an optimal assay. For example, pre-immobilization of the aptamers may result in inefficient mixing of the aptamers with the target molecules on the surface of the solid support, perhaps leading to lengthy reaction times and, therefore, extended incubation periods to permit efficient binding of the aptamers to their target molecules. Further, when photoaptamers are employed in the assay and depending upon the material utilized as a solid support, the solid support may tend to scatter or absorb the light used to effect the formation of covalent bonds between the photoaptamers and their target molecules. Moreover, depending upon the method employed, detection of target molecules bound to their aptamers can be subject to imprecision, since the surface of the solid support may also be exposed to and affected by any labeling agents that are used. Finally, immobilization of the aptamers on the solid support generally involves an aptamer-preparation step (i.e., the immobilization) prior to exposure of the aptamers to the sample, and this preparation step may affect the activity or functionality of the aptamers.
Accordingly, a need exists for methods, devices, reagents, and kits that provide high sensitivity assays for the detection and/or quantification of target molecules in a test sample by optimizing conditions that affect (1) the activity of aptamers, (2) the efficiency of achieving binding equilibria for aptamer-target molecule complexes, (3) the formation of covalent bond(s) between an aptamer and its target molecule, and (4) the detection of aptamer-target molecule complexes.